Refrigerator door



y 1939- R. H. SCHIELKE 2,157,678

REFRIGERATOR DOOR Filed April 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inventur. RmhardH.5chIeIKE y 1939. R. H. SCHIELKE 2,157,678

REFRIGERATOR DOOR Filed April 11, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 WT 1\\ m 1mm?!0 o V Inventur'. Rmhar'd H.5chre IKE B H W: Err/Z Patented May 9, 1939UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention appertains to closures, and more particularly to doorsfor refrigerators, refrigerator automobile trucks, and refrigeratorrailroad cars and the like.

It is customary to provide swinging doors for refrigerator trucks andthe like, which make it inconvenient to open and close the same, when atruck has been driven alongside a loading platform. Usually, the doorshave to be opened first and swung back against the truck body before thetruck can be disposed into loading or unloading position relative to aplatform. Likewise, swinging doors generally cannot be closed until thetruck has been driven away from the platform.

Therefore, one of the salient objects of my invention is to provide arefrigerator body having novel doors, which can be slid laterally to anopen position, and thereby eliminate the outward swinging ofrefrigerator doors.

Another salient object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator doorslidably mounted on tracks for lateral movement, with means for shiftingthe doors toward and away from their frames, so that the doors can bereadily moved into and out of sealing contact with the frames.

A further important object of my invention is to provide a refrigeratordoor suspended from wheeled carriers or brackets mounted on runways ortracks carried by the refrigerator, with means whereby the doorsthemselves can be bodily shifted on the brackets into and out of sealingcontact with the door frames.

A still further object of my invention is to pro- 5 videnovel means,including a manipulating and latch lever, for moving the doors into andout of sealing position.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in thenovel construction, ar-

40 rangement, and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter morespecifically described, claimed, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a refrigerator body, showingone of my novel doors incorporated therewith, parts of the view beingshown broken away and in section.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, the door beingshown in its closed position.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line33 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, the door beingshown in its unsealed position ready for lateral shifting movement.

Figure 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view takensubstantially on the line 44, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is an enlarged, detail sectional View taken substantially onthe line 5-5 of Figure 4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detail sectional View takensubstantially on the line E6 of Figure 1, looking in the direction ofthe I arrows, with the door in its unsealed position ready for lateralshifting movement.

Figure 7 is a detail sectional View similar to Figure 3, but showing thedoor in its closed sealed position.

Figure 8 is a detail, horizontal sectional view taken substantially onthe line 8--8 of Figure 7, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,the letter B generally indicates a refrigerator body, and this body canbe considered either as an automobile truck body, a railroad car body},or a stationary refrigerator body.

As illustrated, the same is provided with a door opening id; The wallsof the. door opening H! are preferably beveled, as at i i. Mounted abovethe door opening it! is a longitudinally extending track l2. This trackI2 is rigidly secured in any desired manner to the body B, such asthrough the use of clamps E3. The track 12 is of a substantiallyinverted U-shape in cross-section, and

the lower edges thereof have formed thereon inwardly extending runwaysE4, on which are mounted the wheels it of the suspension brackets Eachof the brackets l6 includes an outwardly extending arm ll, and both ofthe arms carry at their outer ends anti-friction rollers l8, which areadapted to travel on the upper surface of a longitudinally extendingguard strap It. This guard strap l9 extends alongside the track I2 abovethe door opening i6, and a similar guard strap 20 extends longitudinallyof the body B below the door opening ill. These guard straps i9 and 2Bare rigidly secured to the body B, and the same are spaced throughouttheir lengths from the body B, except at their terminals, as is clearlyshown in Figure l of the drawings;

The door 2! for the door opening is shaped to fit snugly within saidopening, and hence the marginal edges thereof are beveled inwardly, as

at 22, to snugly engage the beveled walls ll of the door opening. Thedoor 2| also includes an outer door plate 23, which extends beyond thedoor opening, and the projecting portions of this plate carry resilientor flexible packing strips 24 for engaging the outer surface of therefrigerator body B around the door opening when the door is moved intosaid opening.

Rigidly secured to the door 2| adjacent its opposite sides are upwardlyextending suspension straps 25. These straps have their upper endsreduced in width, as at 26, and the reduced portions extend throughslots 21 formed in the arms I! of the supporting brackets l5.Anti-friction rollers 28 are carried by the upper ends of the straps 25,and these rollers are adapted to ride on the upper surface of the armsI! of the said brackets |6.

From the construction so far, it can be seen that the door 2| can beshifted bodily inwardly and outwardly on the arms I! of the brackets l6,and that the brackets themselves can be shifted longitudinally of thebody B to carry the door laterally of the door opening. When the door 2|is in alinement with the door opening ID, the same can be moved into thedoor opening into sealing contact with the walls thereof, or movedoutwardly on the brackets |6 away from the door opening.

To facilitate the inward and outward movement of the door, the door hasrockably mounted therein an operating shaft 29. This shaft is receivedWithin suitable bearings 30 carried by the outer face of the door, andthe ends of the shaft 29 project above and below the door and areprovided with crank-arms 3|. These crank-arms carry at their terminalsanti-friction rollers 32, which are adapted to engage in short lengthsof track 33. The short lengths of track 33 are rigidly secured to therefrigerator body B directly above and below the door opening 10.

To bring about the rotation of the shaft 2|, the same has formed thereonor secured thereto an operating crank-arm 34. This crank-arm, in turn,has rockably mounted on its outer end, by means of a pivot pin 35, acombined operating and latch lever 36. When the door is in its closedposition, the latch lever 35 is adapted to be sprung over a resilientkeeper 3'! carried by the body B. The keeper 31 is arranged at one sideof the door opening l0.

Considering that the door 2| is in its closed sealed position and it isdesired to open the same, the combined operating and latch lever 35 ismoved out of engagement with the keeper 3'! and the lever is swungoutward. The swinging movement. of the lever will rock the shaft 29 inits bearings 3t, and the crank-arms 3| will be swung inwardly. Theinward swinging movement of the crank-arms 3| will force the door 2|outward and away from the door opening. The door will be limited in itsoutward swinging movement by the contacting of the shaft 29 with theupper and lower guard straps l8 and 2G. The lever 36 can now be swungdown to an out-of-the-way position, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2of the drawings, and the door itself can be shifted laterally to an openposition at one side of the door opening. During the lateral shiftingmovement of the door 2|, the anti-friction rollers 32 will ride out ofthe short lengths of track 33.

When it is desired to close the door, the door is again shiftedlongitudinally until the same comes into alinement with the dooropening, at which time the anti-friction rollers 32 will ride into theshort lengths of track 33. The lever 36 is now swung to a raisedposition and the same is forcibly moved inwardly, which will again rockthe shaft. The rocking of the shaft forces the door 2| bodily inwardinto sealing position, and when the lever 36 is sprung over its keeper37, the door will be held tightly closed against accidental movement.

While I have shown the door disposed exteriorly of a body, it is to beunderstood that I can arrange the door interiorly of the body.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or thescope of my invention, but what I claim as new is:

1. A refrigerator, a body having a door opening, a door for saidopening, a supporting track extending longitudinally of the body, aguard track extending longitudinally of the body in spaced relation tothe supporting track, a wheeled carrier including outwardly projectingarms having means at the opposite ends thereof for engaging thesupporting track and the guard track, suspension straps rigidly securedto the door and slidably mounted on said arms, whereby said door can bebodily shifted on the brackets toward and away from the door opening,and manually operated means for bodily moving the door on the bracketstoward and away from said door opening.

2. In a refrigerator, a body having a door opening, a supporting trackrigidly secured to the body and extending longitudinally thereof abovethe door opening, guard tracks secured to the body above and below saiddoor opening and arranged in spaced parallel relation to said body, adoor for said opening, supporting brackets including outwardly extendingarms and rollers on the opposite ends of said arms for engaging thesupporting track and the uppermost guard track, suspension strapssecured to the door slidably mounted on the arms of the brackets betweensaid rollers, a shaft extending longitudinally of the door and rockablymounted on said door, crank-arms on the opposite ends of the shafthaving their outer ends engaging the body above and below the dooropening, and means for rocking said shaft, as and for the purposespecified.

3. In a refrigerator, a body having a door opening, a door for closingsaid opening, a supporting track extending longitudinally of the bodyabove the door opening and rigidly secured to said body, guard tracksrigidly secured to the body above and below said door opening extendingin spaced parallel relation to saidbody, supporting brackets includingoutwardly extending arms and rollers carried by the opposite ends ofsaid arms for engaging the supporting track and the uppermost guardtrack, suspension straps rigidly secured to the door and slidablymounted on the arms of the brackets between said rollers for movementtoward and away from the body, a rock shaft mounted upon the door,crank-arms on the terminals of the rock shaft, guide and wear trackssecured to the body directly above and below said door, anti-frictionrollers on the outer ends of said cranks for engaging the guide and weartracks, the shaft being adapted to engage against the inner faces of theguard tracks when the door is in a predetermined position, and means forrocking said shaft.

4. In a refrigerator, a body having a door opening, a door for closingsaid opening, a supporting track extending longitudinally of the bodyabove the door opening and rigidly secured to said body, guard tracksrigidly secured to the body above and below said door opening extendingin spacedparallel relation to said body, supporting brackets includingoutwardly extending arms and rollers carried by the opposite ends ofsaid arms for engaging the supporting track and the uppermost guardtrack, suspension straps rigidly secured to the door and slidablymounted on the arms of the brackets between said rollers for movementtoward and away from the body, a rock shaft mounted upon the door,crank-arms on the terminals of the rock shaft, guide and wear trackssecured to the body directly above and below said door, anti-frictionrollers on the outer ends of keeper secured to the body for receivingthe lever 10 when the same is in a predetermined position. RICHARD H.SCHIELKE.

